TermPad

TermPad is a VS Code extension for drafting terminal commands in a real editor before sending them to the active terminal.

It is designed for Remote SSH and other high-latency terminal workflows: prepare commands with normal editor features, keep a shell-independent command history, then send exactly what you need when you are ready.

Features

Open an editable terminal command scratchpad with Ctrl+Alt+G.
Use normal editor features while preparing commands: search, replace, Vim bindings, multi-cursor editing, snippets, and AI tools.
Send the selected text, a marked block, a backslash-continued command, or the current line to the active terminal with Ctrl+Alt+Enter.
Close a TermPad scratch buffer without sending or save prompts with Ctrl+Alt+W.
Save edited history back from the scratchpad.
Clear history with an automatic timestamped backup.
Store history in VS Code global extension state. In Remote SSH, TermPad runs on the workspace extension host, so history is kept with that remote environment.

Basic Usage

Run TermPad: Open or press Ctrl+Alt+G.
Edit or write a command in the scratchpad.
Press Ctrl+Alt+Enter to send it to the active terminal.

TermPad closes the scratchpad automatically after sending from a TermPad buffer. Sent commands are appended to TermPad history only after they are sent.

Sending Commands

TermPad chooses what to send in this order:

Selected text.
The marked block around the cursor.
The backslash-continued command around the cursor.
The current line.

Marked Blocks

Use # ^^^ and # $$$ to mark explicit multi-line command blocks:

# ^^^
docker compose \
  -f docker-compose.yml \
  up --build
# $$$

When the cursor is inside that block, TermPad: Send Selection, Block, or Current Line sends only the lines between the markers. The markers remain part of the history entry.

Backslash Continuation

TermPad supports simple Bash-style line continuation with a trailing backslash:

find . \
  -name '*.js' \
  -print

Place the cursor on any line in the continued command and press Ctrl+Alt+Enter.

Selected Blocks

If you select multiple lines and send them, TermPad sends the selected text and stores the history entry wrapped with block markers:

# ^^^
selected command lines
# $$$

Editing History

Open TermPad, edit the history buffer like normal text, then run TermPad: Save History From Editor.

History parsing is intentionally simple:

A # ^^^ ... # $$$ block is one history entry.
A backslash-continued command is one history entry.
Any other non-empty line is one history entry.
Blank lines are ignored.
Malformed blocks are rejected instead of being saved.

TermPad: Clear History writes a timestamped text backup before clearing and shows the backup path in a notification.

Commands

TermPad: Open
TermPad: Send Selection, Block, or Current Line
TermPad: Save History From Editor
TermPad: Close Without Saving
TermPad: Clear History

Default Keybindings

Keybinding	Command
`Ctrl+Alt+G`	`TermPad: Open`
`Ctrl+Alt+Enter`	`TermPad: Send Selection, Block, or Current Line`
`Ctrl+Alt+W`	`TermPad: Close Without Saving`

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`termPad.maxHistory`	`200`	Maximum number of commands kept in shared history.
`termPad.createTerminalWhenMissing`	`true`	Create a terminal when there is no active terminal to receive a command.
`termPad.revealTerminalOnSend`	`true`	Reveal the active terminal after sending a command.
`termPad.editorLanguage`	`shellscript`	Language mode used for TermPad scratch buffers.

Development

Open this folder in VS Code and press F5 to launch an Extension Development Host.

To package the extension locally:

npm install -g @vscode/vsce
vsce package

Then install the generated .vsix with:

code --install-extension termpad-0.1.0.vsix

Before publishing, make sure the publisher field in package.json matches your Visual Studio Marketplace publisher ID.

Terminal Pad

Weihao Wang